Support for an article



y 1965 R. B. STAVER 3,192,894

SUPPORT FOR AN ARTICLE Filed Aug. 12. 1963 R 055m" B. STAVER INVENTOR.

Uited States Patent Ofiice 3,192,894 Patented July 6, 1965 3,192,894 SUFPGRT FOR AN ARTEQLE Robert B. Staver, 191 Hillview Ave, Los Altos, Calif. Filed Aug. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 301,534 8 t'llaims. (Cl. 118-76) April 6, 1959, entitled Cake of Material and Handle,

now Patent No. 3,100,363, granted August 13, 1963, there is described a body of material, for examplea cake of soap, which is adapted to operate on an object being treated. The body of material is'attached to the lower portion of a holding means, which holding means extends upwardly from the side of the material opposite to the side which operates on an object being treated. This latter side is usually the principal surface of application of said body of material to said object. Said holding means includes a slender stem portion which is made so that it can be held comfortably in the crotch between two adjacent fingers without spreading .said fingers to an uncomfortable degree. One end of the holding means is adapted to hold the body of material, while the other end extends upwardly between said fingers. Usually the upper end of the holding means includes a head which facilitates holding by the hand and supporting of the article. In use, the body of material is generally held with the stem portion comfortably nested in the crotch between two adjacent fingers. The surface of the body of material adjacent to said holding means may rest against the under surface of the fingers and the palm of the hand. The ends of the fingers may fit over the outer edge of the article in a comfortable manner.

As described in my copending application, Serial No. 47,766, filed August 5, 1960, now Patent No. 3,125,824, granted March 24, 1964, it is desirable to, be able to support or hang soap when not in use not only for convenience but also so that erosion by Water is minimized and so that the soap cake dries relatively quickly. For other articles and materials, it may be desirable to support the same when not in use, for convenience in storage. The article should be capable of being supportedin such a manner that the hand. can be extended towardsthe same with the adjacent fingers slightly spread for nesting the slender stem in the crotch between them, with a minimum of interference from the support means, so that the article may be grasped substantially in the using position.

It is also sometimes desirable that such an article as described may be placed with reasonable secureness on a support with the principal, surface that is adapted for treating an object, facing upwardly. Where-such an article includes a body of soap, a nail brush, hand brush, or dish brush may be conveniently used on its surface while said article rests on the support.

his a general object of the present invention to provide an improved supportmeans for an article, that may include a body of erodablematerial such as soap, together with the type of holding means described, in which interference between the support means and the hand tends to be minimized during removal of the article from and placement of said article in cooperation with said support means, where said article is normally suspended from the support means with the holding means located upwardly from the body of material as herein described; and also in which said article may be selectively rested inaninverted position generally atop said support means with reasonable secureness so that the principal surface of the body of material adapted for treating an object is presented upwardly and may be used while said article remains on the support in an inverted position, in which positionsaid holding means extends downwardly through an opening in the support means.

It is another object of the present invention to provide cooperating configurations of the article supported and the support means so that when the article is rested on the support means with the surface adapted for treating an object facing upwardly and when the article contains erodable material, such as soap, no portion of the erodable material remains in contact with the support means.

This prevents sticking of the erodable material to said support and also reduces the possibility of unwanted erosion of the material when resting on the support. The support and the article may also be kept neater in appearance thereby.

The foregoing objects of the invention will become more clearly apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. I

Referring to the drawing: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing a support means for an article as herein described having such configuration that said article not only may be suspended from said support means but may also be rested upon it in an inverted position with reasonable secureness.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view in partial section showing an article as herein described suspended from asupport means.

FIGURE 3 is a partial cross-section view taken through the line A-A in FIGURE 2, which shows in clear deplication of said article facing upwardly.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the support means shown is referred to generally by the number 1. An opening 9 .is provided in the support means 1 to facilitate engagement of an article as herein described to be placed in cooperation therewith. Also, a surface 7 is shown which is designed to cooperate with said article on engagement as to be described. A back surface 11 is shown for attachment of said support means to a vertical surface.

within the crotch of'two adjacent fingers. and without spreading said fingers to an uncomfortable degree, which member also includes an intermediate support means 6 for cooperation with the cooperating portion 7 of a support means 1 for support of the article, said body including a surface 8, located opposite to upper surface portion 4, adapted to operate on an object.

Referring more particularly to FIGURE 3, the support means 1 contains an opening 9. The member 3 includes a head (portion) 10 located at its upper end which is substantially broader than the narrowmost portion of the holding means 5 (viz., the slender stem portion 20), said head including a (first) intermediate support means 6 portion for cooperation with the cooperating portion 7 of the support means 1. The drawing makes clear how engagement of the uppermost portion of the member 3 with the support means 1 is accomplished by means of intermediate support means 6, with said body of material hanging downwardly from said member 3, with the holding means located partly within the opening 9.

Referring to FIGURE 4, the cooperating portion 7 of the support means 1 cooperates with a (second) intermediate support means 31 portion of the member 3 which results in support of the article with the cooperating surface 8 of application of the body of material 2 facing upwardly and the holding means 5 portion of the member 3 extending downwardly through an opening 9 (FIGURE 3) in the support means 1. A surface portion 13 of the support means 1 is separated from an opposing surface portion 12 of the body of material 2 by an air-space 14. Referring back to FIGURE 3, it should also be noted that the maximum overall width of the downwardly and inwardly sloping portions 21 and 22, shown in cross-section, of the support means 1, is not greater than that of the maximum width of the lower portion 23 of the member 3. When the body of material is rested on the support with the cooperating surface 8 facing upwardly, this prevents any portion of the body of material from coming into con-. tact with the support, this preventing an erodable material such as soap from sticking to said support. Further, for a body of erodable material such as soap, this prevents the collection of water between the soap and the support, which would result in a waste of soap. Also, this may result in a neater support.

It should be pointed out that the shape of the head need not be of the particular configuration shown, nor need it be more than slightly larger in cross-dimension than the minimum cross-dimension of the holding means 5, in order that the article to be supported can be positioned selectively, within an opening such as 9, with its intermediate support means (portions 6 or 31) resting on the support.

It should be made clear that the body of material may or may not be erodable. The principal surface of application of the article may be that of a sponge, cloth-like material, or other non-erodable surface that it is desired to bring into contact with an object to be treated. Also, said body may contain erodable material, such as soap. Soap is defined broadly to include any erodable cleansing material of generally soap-like character regardless of what other substances it may contain such as skin creams, skin moisturizers, medication, etc. The member and the support means may each be made of metal, wood, plastic or other suitable materials, or of any of these in combination. Also, the member and the body, in whole or in part, may be made in one piece and of the same or difierent materials.

It should be clear that a body of erodable material places added emphasis on the utility of design of the handle, and in turn the support means, since the body grows continually smaller in use and therefore is not available, for long to serve as an effective auxiliary grip. Such a body of erodable material that contains soap may further affect the design of the combination due in part to the slippery character of the soap and also to the location where and conditions under which soap is normally 4. used. Further, soap is normally used in conjunction with a solvent, usually water, which may cause further erosion on stowage of the article on the support means unless said support means is designed so as to minimize or otherwise reduce such waste.

Thus, there is provided a means of support for an article of the type described that enables said article to be engaged with and supported by said support selectively in either of two opposite directions. When the body of material is suspended downwardly from the holding means, the article is ready for grasping by the hand in substantially the using position. When the article is rested on the support with the body of material located upwardly from the holding means, it engages the support with reasonable secureness so that, for example, brushes or cloths may be brought into useful contact with the principal surface of application of said body. Thus, nail brushes, hand brushes and dish brushes may be effectively used on a body of soap while said body remains resting on the support. It is also possible that, when said body is hanging from the support means with the body of material positioned downwardly from said holding means, the body of material, if of convenient configuration, may be effectively used while it remains so suspended without having to be removed from the support.

I claim:

1. In combination, a body of material of a size to be grasped by the hand and manipulated thereby, said body having an upper surface portion; a member extending upwardly from and attached to at least part of said upper surface portion of said body, said body having an opposite surface for application to an object to be treated, said member including means for holding said body of material including a slender stem portion, said stem portion being sufficiently slender to be positioned comfortably within the crotch of two adjacent squeezing fingers of a hand without spreading said fingers to an uncomfortable degree when the article is in use, said combination comprising said body of material; said member; a support means having ,an opening to facilitate engagement of the intermediate support means with said support means; and at least two intermediate support means portions of the member, the first of which is disposed generally upwardly from said stem portion to cooperate with the support means to support the article therefrom with the body of material being located downwardly from said intermediate support means, while leaving said stem portion and the space lying generally outwardly from said stern, substantially unobstructed whereby said intermediate support means may be engaged with or removed from said support means conveniently while said holding means is engaged in the crotch between said fingers; and the surface of the member located outwardly from the base of the stem portion and facing generally upwardly when the body of material is positioned downwardly with respect to the member, which surface conforms to the cooperating surface of the support means located outwardly from the opening in said support means and generally facing upwardly, so as to provide a second intermediate support means for resting the article upon the support in an inverted position with the body of material being located generally upwardly from the cooperating surface of the support means and with the article resting with reasonable secureness on the support means while the stem portion extends downwardly through the opening in said support means, this leaving the surface of the body of material adapted for application to an object being treated facing upwardly so that the immediate object to be treated may be brought into useful contact with said surface of application.

2. The combination as in claim 1 wherein the body is of erodable material.

3. The combination as in claim 1 wherein the body of material contains soap.

4. The combination as in claim 2 wherein no part of the surface of the erodable material comes into contact with said support means when said article is supported on the support means with the body of material located 11pwardly from the cooperating surface of the support means and the holding means downwardly from the body of material.

5. The combination as in claim 4 wherein the body of material contains soap.

6. The combination as in claim 1 wherein a head portion is provided at the, upper end of said stern portion that extends laterally therefrom so that its under and outer surface provides the first intermediate support means for suspending the article from the support means.

7. The combination as in claim 6 wherein the body is of erodable material.

8. The combination as in claim 6 wherein the body of material contains soap.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,100,363 8/63 Staver "118-76 3,125,824 3/64 Staver 118--76 FOREIGN PATENTS 462,425 3/51 Italy.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION, A BODY OF MATERIAL OF A SIZE TO BE GRASPED BY THE HAND AND MANIPULATED THEREBY, SAID BODY HAVING AN UPPER SURFACE PORTION; A MEMBER EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM AND ATTACHED TO AT LEAST PART OF SAID UPPER SURFACE PORTION OF SAID BODY, SAID BODY HAVING AN OPPOSITE SURFACE FOR APPLICATION TO AN OBJECT TO BE TREATED, SAID MEMBER INCLUDING MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID BODY OF MATERIAL INCLUDING A SLENDER STEM PORTION, SAID STEM PORTION BEING SUFFICIENTLY SLENDER TO BE POSITIONED COMFORTABLY WITHIN THE CROTCH OF TWO ADJACENT SQUEEZING FINGERS OF A HAND WITHOUT SPREADING SAID FINGERS TO AN UNCOMFORTABLE DEGREE WHEN THE ARTICLE IS IN USE, SAID COMBINATION COMPRISING SAID BODY OF MATERIAL; SAID MEMBER; A SUPPORT MEANS HAVING AN OPENING TO FACILITATE ENGAGEMENT OF THE INTERMEDIATE SUPPORT MEANS WITH SAID SUPPORT MEANS; AND AT LEAST TWO INTERMEDIATE SUPPORT MEANS PORTIONS OF THE MEMBER, THE FIRST OF WHICHIS DISPOSED GENERALLY UPWARDLY FROM SAID STEM PORTION TO COOPERATE WITH THE SUPPORT MEANS TO SUPPORT THE ARTICLE THEREFROM WITH THE BODY OF MATERIAL BEING LOCATED DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID INTERMEDIATE SUPPORT MEANS, WHILE LEAVING SAID STEM PORTION AND THE SPACE LYING GENERALLY OUTWARDLY FROM SAID STEM, SUBSTANTIALLY UNOBSTRUCTED WHEREBY SAID INTERMEDIATE SUPPORT MEANS MAY BE ENGAGED WITH OR REMOVED FROM SAID SUPPORT MEANS CONVENIENTLY WHILE SAID HOLDING MEANS IS ENGAGED IN THE CROTCH BETWEEN SAID FINGERS; AND THE SURFACE OF THE MEMBER LOCATED OUTWARDLY FROM THE BASE OF THE STEM PORTION AND FACING GENERALLY UPWARDLY WHEN THE BODY OF MATERIAL IS POSITIONED DOWNWARDLY WITH RESPECT TO THE MEMBER, WHICH SURFACE CONFORMS TO THE COOPERATING SURFACE OF THE SUPPORT MEANS LOCATED OUTWARDLY FROM THE OPENING IN SAID SUPPORT MEANS AND GENERALLY FACING UPWARDLY, SO AS TO PROVIDE A SECOND INTERMEDIATE SUPPORT MEANS FOR RESTING THE ARTICLE UPON THE SUPPORT IN AN INVERTED POSITION WITH THE BODY OF MATERIAL BEING LOCATED GENERALLY UPWARDLY FROM THE COOPERATING SURFACE OF THE SUPPORT MEANS AND WITH THE ARTICLE RESTING WITH RESONABLE SECURENESS ON THE SUPPORT MEANS WHILE THE STEM PORTION EXTENDS DOWNWARDLY THROUGH THE OPENING IN SAID SUPPORT MEANS, THIS LEAVING THE SURFACE OF THE BODY OF MATERIAL ADAPTED FOR APPLICATION TO AN OBJECT BEING TREATED FACING UPWARDLY SO THAT THE IMMEDIATE OBJECT TO BE TREATED MAY BE BROUGHT INTO USEFUL CONTACT WITH SAID SURFACE OF APPLICATION. 